The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1887-11-12
HANDLING MON Ely.
Tho Wonderful Skill of London
Bank Tollers.
Annual Loss from VICAR and Tear OF Gold
Coin Various Features of the
scotch and American
Banking systems.

Scotch and American
Ranking systems.
A London bank teller always cx-
pcricnccs a feeling Of relief when he
finds his money correct Mt the close Of
Fridays work, and this feeling is
usually shared by the rest Of the staff,
who can not leave the bank until he
either discovers his error on satisfies
himself as TO the actual shortage The
great bulk Of the shortage made across
bank counters in England are believed
90 occur on that day. Whether or not
there is any truth In the superstition
concerning Friday being an unlucky
day for the teller, or whether the errors
are caused by the carolessnoss which
Is always more or less the result Of n
slack day, Is an open question. The
belief is simply recorded as an ac-
knowlcdgcd and experienced fact.
Next in the order of bad days for the
teller. or cashiers rs he is designated
In London. comes Saturday, but there
the bad luck is Ineligible. Saturday
is wages day, and no sooner has the
teller filled his till and loaded up his
shelves with silver i'm Ej and El0 bags
than the days work sets in like
food. Until twelve o'clock he is pay.
ing away with both hands; after that
hour, if lac is n receiving clerk rs well,
he begins TO receive heavily, for Sat
urday is also the last day of TIN week.
and every one elects that the bank
should receive his deposits rather than
that he should keep thom in his own
less-sccurc custody over Sunday
In beginning work on Saturday the
London teller faces an open mahogany
counter. of which the portion control
cd by his desk is probably six feet
long by three feet wide. He likes 10
have good square view of his Gus
toner, and it Is one Of tho canons of
British banking that the eyes of tho
staff shall command the counter
There is To bc said In defence Of the
system, il requires considerably more
hardihood To penetrate swindlo in
il does at a pigeon-holo in n fenced-in
counter, aud. in addition. well-train-
ed bank stal accustomed to each
others ways by long contact and
familiar rs we'll with tho customers Of
the establishment, are often able to
render valuable aid To the teller, and
the bank for that matter, In variety
of ways.
With such an open counter the chief
clerk is also able TO keep the whole
field under his eye Mt one time. and
relieve the ovorstrain ut any particu-
lar desk Tho effect of tho exposed
condition is beneficial too ON tho staff.
the members of which preserve
stcadicr domcanor and attend more
closely To business while thus under
the eyes of the pablo. But such an
exposed situation demands n steady
nerve on the part of the teller, who
will some times have rs many rs
score Of customers waiting at
one time. lie need how
ever. only observe the golden
rule in order TO insure correctness:
mo hurry, and finish ono transaction
before you begin another" His great
temptation will be To ondcavor to get
rid of the press of people by cashing
the checks demanding coin without
entering them in his money book at
the moment, leaving that for the first
lull in the days business. In doing
this he is depriving himself Of almost
the only safeguard against loss.
The London teller is probably the
quickest manipulation of coin in the
world. This is largely owing to the
fact that the smallest note issued in
London is cf the value of f5, or S25.
When asked for gold in greater
amount than his eye can count at n
glance the teller. after counting it
quickly with n pianofortc action,
throws IL with his copper scoop into
his faithful scales and SO checks his
count The weights of these scales
are arranged in suitable numbers
The teller also checks tho gold which
he receives by weight and here his
knowledge of his business will be
tested. One hundred new sovercigns
are of full weight rather more, in fact,
but the same number taken Mt hap.
hazard will be found to be nearly halt
n sovereign (ori per cent) short. in
weight, while one huu1rcG
pounds in ordinary half sovcr.
cigns arc sometimes twenty shn.
lings (or I per cent? short In
value. The teller can quickly
satisfy himself as TO whether the de-
fciency is caused by shortage in the
weight or the count, by dividing the
amount and weighing one moiety
against the other. II they balance
evenly. the count is correct and the
difference is due to underweight. II
the latter exceeds the average stated
the coin will need 10 be specially ex-
amined, there is probably something
wrong. This question of light gold is
an important ono. One large London
Joint stock bank paid TO the Bank Of
England ESQ. 900 (si50. 0O0) for de.
ficient weight in its gold for one year.
A practical teller knows heavy or full
weight gold by sight The best test